Guild Wars 2

Could someone help me understand the logic behind exploit reporting?

Here is what I understand to be the current outcomes:

Situation a)

Player finds what may be an exploit. Being a decent and thoughtful person, asks the community for confirmation before reporting the exploit. Player gets banned for promoting exploit.

Situation

Player finds what may be an exploit. Reports it to ArenaNet, and stops doing said action. No feedback is given as per ArenaNets policy. Player misses out on designed game function.

Situation C)

Player has no idea what they’re doing is an exploit due to the rules against promoting or discussing potential exploits. Player is permanently banned and has no idea why.

Situation D)

Player finds potential exploit, and reports it. Hears nothing back officially so assumes its not, and continues to so said action. Player gets banned for exploit.

You see how flawed this is? The person trying to do the right thing is more times than not, punished for doing the right thing. I get that pointing out an exploit can cause issues, but why should the person doing the right thing be punished for it?

If there is an exploit, it should be discussed, and dealt with. If someone reports an exploit, then ArenaNet should respond to the community by explaining what is, and isn’t considered an exploit.

If they said something like:

" it’s been pointed out that doing this, is a game exploit. We are working to solve this. In the mean time if you click “ok” you are agreeing to not take advantage of this under threat of ban"

Or

“a few people have reported this as an exploit. At this time, it is not considered as such, and you are free to partake in this action without fear of consequence”

I tend to follow the same rule that I follow in life… If it seems too good to be true, it probably is…. In GW2… If it seems too good to be true, it’s probably an exploit.

Runar.1342:

I tend to follow the same rule that I follow in life… If it seems too good to be true, it probably is…. In GW2… If it seems too good to be true, it’s probably an exploit.

that only works so far. missing digits on cultural weapons? obvious. but selling cooked stuff bought with karma for money?
exchanging one currency for the other is only logical (like gems/gold).

I tend to follow the rule in life that I like to be educated on a subject so I can make informed decisions. Not everyone has years of MMO experience behind them, and so many are doing things that may seem totally normal.

For example, is it an exploit to put stuff into the Trading Post while questing to bypass your limited inventory, or is this part of the game mechanics? I have no idea, and the idea that even asking can result in a ban is redicilous.

Transparency and communication will make the game better. Banning people, left, right, and centre for things they may not even know is wrong (and aren’t allowed to ask about), only serves to further put fear into players.

Fear of getting banned for swearing, exploiting, accused of using bots, account hacking, credit card info on file…it all adds up.

Simple rule of thumb if you think to enough of a degree to report it that it’s an exploit just don’t do it

Drintar.1246:

Simple rule of thumb if you think to enough of a degree to report it that it’s an exploit just don’t do it

Sure, and as I said…what if it’s not? Why should I suffer for lack of transparency? Why shouldn’t I have the right to ask the question without fear of being banned?

I see this as blaming the victim. In the end, it just makes more sense to just take advantage of everything. If you risk being banned either way, or miss out on legit aspects of the game, you’re really screwed no matter what you do.

Crazylegsmurphy.6430:

Fear of getting banned for swearing, exploiting, accused of using bots, account hacking, credit card info on file…it all adds up.

• Do not swear.
• Do not use exploits.
• Do not use third party add-ons (bots).

If ANet bans for the above reasons, then the one banned most likely deserved it.

Hacked accounts got banned in order to protect the one hacked.
Everything on the computer is stored on a file.

Zogrim,

So I deserve to be banned for asking if something is in fact an exploit? If it is, great, I won’t do it…but how am I supposed to know exactly?

This logic is flawed. I’m just supposed to know based on common sense right? In a game where I can sell a glob of goo, on a trading post that magically flies above my head, from anywhere in the world, I’m supposed to use common sense?

You can’t assume everyone understands what is, and isn’t an exploit in a complex game. People should have the freedom to ask, or find out, without being threatened with a ban.

Crazylegsmurphy.6430:

Zogrim,

So I deserve to be banned for asking if something is in fact an exploit? If it is, great, I won’t do it…but how am I supposed to know exactly?

This logic is flawed. I’m just supposed to know based on common sense right? In a game where I can sell a glob of goo, on a trading post that magically flies above my head, from anywhere in the world, I’m supposed to use common sense?

You can’t assume everyone understands what is, and isn’t an exploit in a complex game. People should have the freedom to ask, or find out, without being threatened with a ban.

Yes you do.

Let me clear things up a bit:

exploit – this is something specific, e.g. there is a spot in Lion’s Arch if you stand there, you will get 1 gold each second (I made this up).
If you ask it like this: “Hey guys, there is the jeweler station in Lion’s Arch and if I stand at north east corner I will get 1 gold. Is this intended?” Then you ensure that a very wide range of people will know about this, and by knowing it they CAN exploit it.

But if you found out about the aforementioned exploit and ask it like this:
“Is it okay for me to get 1 gold/second if I just stand idly?” Then you are not discussing an exploit, you are discussing the system itself. And if the response is “No, you cannot gain money via standing still.”, then you should pretty much get the idea, that the thing you found is an exploit.